Spread of English-Speaking Peoples 77 



found to be more profitable than bears, and the 

 "beloved bear grounds" were by degrees changed 

 into stock ranges. 15 



The Creeks had developed a very curious semi- 

 civilization of their own. They lived in many towns, 

 of which the larger, or old towns, bore rule over 

 the smaller, 16 and alone sent representatives to the 

 general councils. Many of these were as large as 

 any in the back counties of the colonies 17 ; but they 

 were shifted from time to time, as the game was 

 totally killed off and the land exhausted by the 

 crops. 18 The soil then became covered by a growth 

 of pines, and a so-called "old field" was formed. 

 This method of cultivation was, after all, much like 

 that of the Southern whites, and the "old fields," or 

 abandoned plantations grown up with pines, were 

 common in the colonies. 



Many of the chiefs owned droves of horses and 



15 The use of the word "beloved" by the Creeks was quite 

 peculiar. It is evidently correctly translated, for Milfort 

 likewise gives it as "bien aime." It was the title used for 

 anything held in especial regard, whether for economic or 

 supernatural reasons ; and sometimes it was used as Western 

 tribes use the word "medicine" at the present day. The old 

 chiefs and conjurers were called the "beloved old men"; 

 what in the West we would now call the "medicine squaws," 

 were named the "beloved old women." It was often con- 

 ferred upon the chief dignitaries of the whites in writing 

 to them. 



16 Hawkins, 37. 



11 Bartram, 386. The Uchee town contained at least 1,500 

 people. 

 18 Do. 



